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Asia-Pacific markets traded mixed Wednesday, tracking Wall Street declines as concerns about artificial intelligence valuations continued to pressure tech stocks.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index reversed course to rise 0.5%, while the Topix index added 0.55%.
Technology sector had dragged the Nikkei 225 index lower in early trading, led by semiconductor testing equipment maker Advantest which fell more than 4%, last down 1.4%. Semiconductor firm Renesas was trading 4.4% lower.
South Korea’s Kospi index declined 0.67%, and the small-cap Kosdaq retreated 1.02%. Index heavyweights Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix fell 2.25% and 2.46%, respectively.
Australia’s ASX/S&P 200 added 0.11%.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index rose 0.19%, while the mainland CSI 300 climbed 0.4%. Hong Kong-listed shares of Chinese tech company Xiaomi, however, fell more than 4% after the company on Tuesday warned of higher smartphone prices in 2026, on the back of rising costs of memory chips to meet skyrocketing AI demand.
U.S. equity futures were little changed in early Asian hours after the key indexes fell Tuesday stateside.
Overnight, the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 498.50 points, or 1.07%, to settle at 46,091.74. The S&P 500 lost 0.83% to end the day at 6,617.32. It was the broad-based index’s fourth straight losing session, making for its longest slide since August. The Nasdaq Composite declined 1.21% to finish at 22,432.85.
The session saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average also drop for a fourth consecutive day, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite recorded its fifth negative day in six sessions.
Bitcoin dropped briefly below $90,000, a sign of reduced risk-taking by investors.
— CNBC’s Sean Conlon and Pia Singh contributed to this report.